Mattress



May 16, 1950 B. BERKMAN MATTRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. l0, 1948 BBERKMAN MATTRESS May 16, 195o l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. l0, 1948Patented May 16, 1950 UNITED STATES AENT OFFICE MATTRESS ApplicationJanuary 10, 1948, Serial No. 1,512

V 20 Claims.

My invention relates generally to mattresses and in particular to anovel mattress providing comfort in both warm weather and cold weather.

Attempts to produce such a mattress, quite frequently called awinter-summer mattress, have not been successful and in so far as I amaware there is no practical mattress now on the market wherein one sideof the mattress preferably is used in the winter time and the other sideof the mattress preferably is used in the summer time. Those who havedeveloped the prior art mattresses of the so-called winter-summer typehave overlooked certain fundamental principles relating to the generalphysical comfort of humans.

In the prior art mattresses it is customary to insulate one side of themattress with one type of padding and to insulate or provide the otherside of the mattress with another type of padding. This constructionapparently is used regardless of whether the mattresses be of thestuffed or l springless or of the inner` spring type. Two of the mostcommon paddings are hair felt, which is used on the summer" side of themattress, and wool felt, which is applied to the winter side of themattress. The thermal conductance of hair felt is 0.246 B. t. u. perhour and that of Wool felt is 0.363 `B. t. u. per hour. There is,therefore, only 0.117 B. t. u. per hour diiference in the thermalconductance of these two materials. Consequently, when a mattress isprovided With Wool felt on one side and hair felt on the other side,there is very little, if any, diiference in the way the opposite sidesof the mattress feel to the person reclining thereon.

My invention provides a novel mattress having on one side a material ofextremely high thermal conductance and on the other side a material ofextremely low thermal conductance and including other insulation tocontrol the heat retained by or dissipated from the mattress.

The principle upon which my mattress affords t comfort in both cold andwarm weather relates to the control of the rate of heat dissipation fromthe body and a proper utilization of such dissipated heat. If the bodyheat can be conserved inthe winter a person will feel warm, and if thisheat can be dissipated very readily in the summer a person will feelconsiderably cooler and more comfortable.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to providea novel mattress adapted for use in both warm weather and cool or coldweather constructed so that a person reclining thereon Wllfeelcomfortable regardless of the ambient temperature.

Another object is to provide a novel mattress having means fordissipating bodily heat and having other means for conserving bodilyheat to obtain a comfortable feeling regardless of the ambienttemperature.

Another object is to provide diierent materials for a mattress, onematerial having a very high thermal conductance and another having, avery low thermal conductance, and arranging these materials so that oneside of the mattress is preferably usable in the summer and the other inthe winter.

A further object is toV provide a novel mattress which can be providedwith a cooling medium to assist in the dissipation of heat in warmweather.

And still another object is to provide a novel mattress which supports aperson on topof the mattress when reclining on the summer side so as toprevent the body from sinking down into the center or deep into themattress-padding.

Another object is to gain all of these advantages ior a mattress withoutdeparting very radically frorn conventional mattress construction butrather by adding certain relatively inexpensive elements to aconventional mattress.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View of an edge of an innerspring mattress incorporating one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a small perspective View, partially broken into section,showing the arrangement of the heat dissipating member;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view showing adifferent form of heat dissipating member;

Fig. 4 isa View similar to Fig. 3 showing a further modied form of heatdissipating member;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating a modified form ofmy invention; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 5 but showing still anothermodification of my invention.

Referring first to Fig. 1, my invention is l1- lustratedv as applied toan inner spring mattress indicated generally by the reference characterI0, and having a plurality of individual inner springs or coils I2 whichare of well known construction in this art. The springs I2 are securedto a spring frame I4, I5 and are enclosed in a casing I6. The springsare padded on either side by paddings of cotton or wool felt I8 rand20', the pad I8 being located at the top of the mattress as seen in Fig.1 and the pad 20 at the bottom 3 of the mattress as seen in Fig. 1. Thisassembly is covered with a mattress covering or ticking 22 and isfinished at the edges with the customary edge roll 24 It is preferablethat my novel mattress not be tufted.

Between the cover 22 and the pad I8 I place a member 2B having a veryhigh thermal conductance. Preferably this member takes the form of avery fine wire screen or mesh or of a metallic Woven cloth. I have foundthat a copper wire s'creen is extremely effective, having a, thermalconductance of 2083 B. t. u. per hour. Another suitable screen isaluminum mesh as its thermal conductance is high, 1000.000 B. t. u. perhour. The screen 26 covers the entire surface of the pad I8 immediatelybeneath the mattress cover 22 and at the edges thereof is folded down asindicated at 28. The folded down edge of the screen 26 is brazed orsoldered at 21 to a heat dissipating member 3D. In the modification ofFig. 1 the member 30 is in the form of a flat radiating plate whichpreferably, but not necessarily, extends around the mattress adjacentthe inner springs I2.

The plate 30 is retained in position by a plurality of hooks 32, each ofwhich has one end looped as at 34 through a suitable hole formed in thelower edge of the plate 30 and has its Vother end 3B hooked around thewire frame I5. By this arrangement the plate 30 is secured between theupper and lower surface of the mattress and at the Side adjacent theinner springs I2. Furthermore, this construction insures that the wiremesh or metallic cloth 26 is held evenly between the pad I 8 and themattress cover 22.

That side of the mattress which is at the top in Fig. 1 is the winterside for reasons which will appear immediately hereinafter.

The lower face or side of the mattress as seen in Fig. 1 is providedwith the pad of cotton or wool felt 20. Immediately next to the mattresscover 22 there is a heat dissipating member 33 which may be similar toor identical with the wire mesh or woven metal cloth 25 on the otherside of the mattress. Between the screen 38 and the cotton or wool feltpad 20 is placed a batt of milkweed iioss ber 40. This batt covers theentire lower face of the mattress and has side portions 42 which extendover and completely around the sides of the mattress. The batt ofmilkweed floss 40, if standing alone, would have the appearance of arectangularly shaped shallow box with no cover or top.

The wire screen 38 is secured as by brazing to a heat dissipating plate44 similar to the plate 30 but positioned between the milkweed flossbatt 42 and that part 46 of the mattress cover 22 which encloses thesides of the mattress. The plate 44 is held in place by a plurality ofhooks 38 which are connected to the upper spring yframe member I4, theconstruction also firmly securing the wire mesh or metallic cloth 38.The lower face of the mattress seen in Fig. 1 is for use in the summeror in warm weather.

In so far as I have been able to determine by `experimental data, themattress of Fig. 1 construction operates in approximately the followingmanner to provide comfort in both warm and cold weather if the properside of the mattress is used.

When a person reclines on top of the mattress as seen in Fig. 1, thewinter side, the bodily heat warms the metallic member 2S and the heatis carried to the radiating plate 30 which is exposed to the air withinthe mattress.

As the mattress is insulated at 42 by the milkweed oss batt, heat givenup by the plate 30 remains in the mattress. The batt of milkweed floss40 also prevents the escape of heat downwardly from the mattress intothe bed springs or box spring upon which the mattress I0 might beplaced. Thus a very substantial part of the body heat is conserved andutilized to warm the mattress, giving a feeling of warmth to the personreclining on the mattress. If, however, the weather is warm, a personreclining on the summer side would lose body heat to the member 38 andto the atmosphere through the radiating plate 44. The mattress is notheated appreciably due to the insulating effect of the milkweed floss.

It should be noted that milkweed floss has a thermal conductance of0.240 B. t. u. per hour for a batt one inch thick; this factor variesinversely with the thickness of the oss padding. Consequently themattress is very completely insulated for the retention of heat appliedto the winter side and against the retention of heat applied to thesummer side.

I have found through an experiment conducted in an ambient temperatureof 30 F. that if a heated body having a temperature of 125 F. were to beplaced on the top of a conventional inner spring mattress, that thetemperature within that mattress would be raised to approximately 49 or50 at the end of one hour. With a mattress constructed according to theform of the invention shown in Fig. 1, the inside temperature under thesame conditions will be raised to 60. This 10 difference in temperatureis sufficiently substantial so that a person lying on the winter side ofmy novel mattress would be more comfortable than the same person lyingon a conventional mattress. With my mattress turned over and the heat of125 F. applied to the summer side under the same conditions and for thesame period of time the temperature within the mattress is raised toonly 45 F. Since in this experiment the same amount of heat wasnecessarily dissipated in each case, it is conclusively demonstratedthat a major part of the heat applied to the summer side of the mattresswas dissipated through the member 38 and radiating plate 44 to theambient air and from the winter side of the mattress through the member26 and plate 30 to the interior of the mattress. When heat is applied tothe summer side it is prevented from substantially heating the interiorof the mattress by the milkweed oss 40 which insulates the member 38from the interior of the mattress and the plates from each other.

In another test conducted with the same mattress where the initialtemperature in the interior of the mattress was 65 F. and a body havinga temperature of F. was placed upon the vmattress on the top as seen inFig. 1, temperature readings were taken after thirty minutes and Aaftersixty minutes. After thirty minutes it was found that the temperaturewithin the mattress was '77 F. to 78 F. depending upon the location ofthe thermal indicator, and the temperature on the inner plate 3G was 75F. At the end of sixty minutes the temperatures were 78 F. to 791/2 F.and 77 F., respectively. A further portion of this test involved takingthe same readings with the same heated body placed on the summer side ofthe mattress, that is, with the mattress turned over from the positionshown in Fig. 1. After thirty minutes the temperature within themattress was 72 F. to '73 F. and the temperature on the inner plate 30Vwas 70 F. At the end of sixty minutes these temperatures were 73 F. to'74.1/2lo F., and. 71 respectively.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modified formv of heat dissipating member. Thisheat dissipating member` 30a functions in the same manner as does theplate 30 of Fig. l but is more eiicient since it is provided with aplurality of heat radiating hns 50. These heat radiating fins 5!! may bein the form of long angular shaped members which have one flange weldedas by spot welding to a base plate 52. Heat radiating element 44acorresponding to the plate lit may be constructed in the same manner.

In Fig. 4 I have shown still another form of heat radiating elementdisposed at the sides of the mattress. In this form the dissipati'ngelement takes the shape oi a tubular member 36D which is connected by ahook 32h to the frame member I5, the hook 32e being brazed or welded asat 54 to the tubular member 3th. A similar tubular member 44h isconnected by a similar hook 48h to the top wire frame I4. I prefer insome cases to use radiating'elements such as the tubes 30h and 44h, sothat a cooling or heating medium can be circulated through these membersif desired, the tubes being connected through openings in the mattresscover 22 to suitable sources of these cooling or heatingv mediums. Infact in the winter time a heated medium such as hot water, steamV or hotair could be circulated through the tube 30h so as tol warm the interiorof the mattress and the member 26. Suitable thermostatically-controlledmeans would be pro vided to control the temperature and to preventoverheating, Conversely, the tube 44h being used for removing heat fromthe member 33 ywould be supplied with a cooling element such as cold oriced water or cold air. The milliweed iloss 42 between the two tubeseiectively minimizes loss of heat from one to the other.

As seen in Fig. 4, these tubes 3Ilb and Mb are of a flattenedcross-sectional shape so that they take up substantially less roomwithin the mattress than were they to be of any other coniiguration.However, if it is impractical to use a flattened tube such as I haveshown, one of circular cross-section may be employed, and in such a casethe tubes would be arranged so that one e would be above the other, thatis, the tube Zilli) would be closer to the spring frame member i5 andthe tube 44h would be closer to the spring frame member I4. These tubesand hib function in the same manner as do the heat dissipating plates3l? and M. However, since they are particularly designed for the use ofan added medium for withdrawing or imparting heat to the mattress, theireffectiveness is much more apparent.

A further and somewhat simpler form of my invention is illustrated incross-section in Fig. 5. This form of the invention is identical in allrevspects with that shown in Fig. 1 with the exception that it is notprovided with the heat dissipatingV member 26 and the plate 30 for thewinter side of the mattress, this side of the mattress being left as ina conventional mattress. However. the heat lost from the body to themattress will be retained in the mattress since the milkweed floss batt40 covers the bottom and sides ofthe mattress (Fig. 5), no heat beingable to escape either towards the bottom or out through the sides. Thisform of the mattress is provided with a "'surnmer side having the heatdissipating wire mesh or woven metallic cloth 38 and the dissipati'ngplate or elements it along the side of the mattress and next to themattress cover 22.

Fig. 6 shows still another form of mattress which is similar to thatseen in Fig. 5 but is provided with a wire mesh or woven metallic clothmember 56 which is placed between the milkweed iloss batt 40 and thecotton or wool felt pad 2l) on the bottom of the mattress (Fig. 6) whichis the summer side. This mattress is provided with the screen 38 betweenthe mattress cover 22 and the milkweed floss batt i6 which screen issecured to the plate le arranged at the side of the mattress. However,it is seen in Fig. 6 that the position of the plate M is fairly close tothat side of the mattress covered by the wire screen 38, and that thehook 48e connecting the plate 44 to the wire frame member I4 issubstantially longer than the hook it shown in Fig. l. The wire screen55 is similarly thermally secured to a plate 58 similar to the plate 35iwhich is connected by a hook Iii! to the top wire frame member I4. Theplate 58, however, is much closer to the top or winter side of themattress than to the bottom of the mattress (Fig. 6). This oisetarrangement of the plates permits the application of a heating elementadjacent or to the plate 58 from without the mattress so as to heat thisplate, without being interfered with from the position of plate 44, aswould be the case were the plates It and 53 arranged side by side as arethe plates 44 and 30 in Fig. l. The heating element may be inserted intothe maitress through suitable openings provided in the mattress covering22. Similarly a cooling me... ber may be placed against the plate toassist in the withdrawal or dissipation of heat from the screen 38. Theadvantage of this construction is that the heating element (or coolingelement) is separate from the plate 58 (or plate 4e) and there need beno electrical or plumbing or tube vconnections to the mattressstructure.

The mattress shown in Fig. 6 is more eiTective than that shown in eitherFig. l or Fig. 5, because the inner screen 55 provides a further meansof retaining and/or adding heat in the mattress when the mattress isused on the winter side, that is, when it is placed upon the bed in theposition shown in Fig. 6. The mattress of Fig. 6 has the advantage overthat mattress of Fig. 1

o1' Fig. 5 in that it is capable of being provided pair of screens orwoven cloth members 3s and 5t provide a substantial support for a personreclining on the mattress so as to prevent that 4person from sinking toodeeply into the mattress,

which is undesirable in the summer because the deeper one reclineswithin the mattress the more of the bcdyris encompassed by the mattressand Ithe less chance there is for the body to dissipate heat to theambient air. This added support does not in any way detract from thecomfort which the mattress possesses.

The mattress of my invention needs no tufting and in fact has a verypleasing appearance being perfectly smooth on both sides. It iseconomical to manufacture and the simpler forms oi the invention, thatis, without the heat radiating ins of Fig. 3 or the tubular members ofFig. 4, require no expensive material and very little eXtra in the wayof'manufacturing operations. In fact there need be no change in theequipment now needed in the manufacture of mattresses to manufacture myimproved mattress which is adapted for comfortable use in both thesummer and winter.

Further, it will be seen that this mattress accomplishes all of theobjectives which are claimed for it in the opening paragraphs of thisspecification.

While I have shown an inner spring mattress in the drawings and havedescribed my invention with respect thereto, this illustration is by wayof example only, and I do not thereby wish to be limited to the innerspring type mattress as my invention can be applied to the other knownforms of mattresses. I have shown only three forms of my invention anddifferent radiating members, but numerous other modifications willsuggest themselves readily to persons skilled in the art. For example,it is clear that any of the illustrated forms of the radiating membersmay be used in any of the three basic constructions. Diierentcombinations can be made including the addition of the screen 56 andplates 58 to the mattress of Fig. 1. And it is obvious that theradiation area of the plates 30, 44, 58 could be increased bycorrugating these plates. Therefore, I wish only to be limited by thescope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patentis:

1. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members on the opposite sides of said inner section, abatt of insulating material having a very low thermal conductanceoverlying one side of one of said padded members and the four edges ofsaid padded members and said inner section, a member having a very highthermal conductance overlying the major portion or" said batt having arelatively low thermal conductance, and a mattress cover enclosing allof the aforesaid elements.

2. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members overlying the opposite sides of said innersection, a batt of insulating material having a thermal cond-uctance notgreater than 0.240 B. t. u. per hour overlying one side of one of saidpadded members and the four edges of said inner section, and a memberhaving a thermal conductance of at least 1000 B. t. u. overlying themajor portion of said batt of low thermal conductance.

3. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members overlying the opposite sides of said innersection, a batt of milkweed floss overlying one side of one of saidpadded members and the four edges of said inner section, and a metallicwire mesh overlying the major portion of said millrweed floss batt.

4. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members overlying the opposite sides of said innersection, a batt of insulating material having a thermal conductance notgreater than 0.240 B. t. u. per hour overlying one side of one of saidpadded members and the four edges of said padded members and said innersection, a meshlike member having a thermal conductance of at least 1000B. t. u. overlying the major portion of said batt, and heat dissipatingmeans thermally secured to said meshlike member and arranged so as tolose heat to the ambient air.

5. A mattress as claimed in claim 4 wherein said heat dissipating meanscomprises a finned metallic element.

6. A mattress as claimed in claim 4 wherein said heat dissipating meanscomprises a tubular element.

7. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members overlying the opposite sides of said innersection, a batt of insulating material having a very low thermalconductance overlying one side of one of said padded members and saidinner section, a mattress cover enclosing said inner section and saidbatt of insulating material, a meshlike member having a very highthermal conductance positioned between said mattress cover and saidbatt, and a second meshlike member having a very high thermalconductance positioned between said batt and the adjacent one of saidpadded members.

8. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members overlying the opposite sides of said innersection, a batt of insulating material having a low thermal conductanceoverlying one side of one of said padded members and the four edges ofsaid padded members and said inner section, a mattress cover enclosingsaid inner section and said batt of insulating material, a meshlikemember having a very high thermal conductance positioned between saidmattress cover and said batt, radiating means thermally connected tosaid meshlike member for dissipation of heat from the mattress, a secondmeshlilre member having a very high thermal conductance positionedbetween said batt and the adjacent one of said padded members, andsecond radiating means thermally connected to said second meshlilremember and positioned adjacent said inner section.

9. A mattress as claimed in claim 8 wherein both said radiating meansare insulated from each other by said batt of insulating material.

10. A mattress as claimed in claim 8 wherein said first and secondradiating means are offset relative to each other so that a heatingelement can be applied to said second radiating means withoutinterference from said rst radiating means.

11. A mattress as claimed in claim 10 wherein said rst and secondradiating means are insulated from each other by said batt of insulatingmaterial.

l2. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members overlying the opposite sides of said innersection, a batt of insulating material having a very low thermalconductance overlying one of said padded members and the four edges ofsaid padded members and said inner section, a mattress cover enclosingsaid inner section and said batt of insulating material, a meshlikemember having a very high thermal conductance positioned between saidmattress cover and said batt, and a second mesh-like member having avery high thermal conductance positioned between the other of saidpadded members and .said mattress cover.

13. A mattress of the type described comprising in combination an innersection, padded members overlying the opposite sides of said innersection, a batt of insulating material having a very low thermalconductance overlying one of said members and the four edges of saidpadded members and said inner section, a mattress cover enclosing saidinner section and said batt of insulating material, a meshlike memberhaving a very high thermal conductance positioned between said mattresscover and said batt, radiating means thermally connected to saidmeshlike member for dissipating heat to the ambient air, a secondmeshlike member having a very high thermal conductance positionedbetween the other of said padded members and said mattress cover, and asecond radiating means thermally connected to said second meshlikemember and positioned adjacent said inner section.

14. A mattress comprising in combination an inner structure padded onopposite sides thereof, a batt of milkweed floss covering one side ofsaid inner structure, a mattress cover enclosing said inner structureand said batt of milkweed floss, and a sheet-like metallic member havinga very high thermal conductance interposed between said batt of milkweedfloss and said mattress cover.

15. A mattress comprising in combination an inner structure padded onopposite sides thereof, a batt of milkweed floss covering one side ofsaid structure, a mattress cover enclosing said inner structure and saidbatt of milkweed oss, a sheetlike metallic member having a very highthermal conductance interposed between said batt of milkweed floss andsaid mattress cover, and a second sheet-like metallic member having avery high thermal conductance interposed between said batt of milkwcedfloss and said inner structure.

16. A mattress comprising in combination an inner structure padded onopposite sides thereof, a batt of milkweed oss covering one side of saidinner structure, a mattress cover enclosing said inner structure andsaid batt of milkweed floss, a sheet-like metallic member having a veryhigh thermal conductance interposed between said batt of milkweed flossand said mattress cover, and a second sheet-like metallic member havinga very high thermal conductance interpo-sed between said inner structureand said mattress cover on the opposite side from said milkweed flossbatt.

17. A mattress comprising in combination an inner mattress structurepadded on opposite sides thereof, a batt of milkweed floss covering oneface of said inner structure, a mattress cover enclosing said innerstructure and said batt of milkweed floss, and a pliable sheet-like heatdissipating means having a very high thermal conductance interposedbetween said batt of milkweed floss and said mattress cover.

18. A mattress comprising in combination an inner mattress structurepadded on opposite sides thereof, a batt of insulating material having athermal conductance not greater than 0.240 B. t. u. per hour coveringone side of said inner structure, a mattress cover enclosing said innerstructure and said batt of insulating material and a pliable sheet-likeheat dissipating means having a thermal conductance of not less than1000.000 B. t. u. per hour interposed between said batt of insulatingmaterial and said mattress cover.

19. A mattress of the class described comprising in combination amattress inner structure having padded top and bottom sides and havingfour edges, a batt of milkweed floss covering one of said sides and thefour edges of said inner structure, a mattress cover enclosing saidinner structure and said batt of milkweed floss, a woven copper sheetinterposed between said batt of milkweed floss and said mattress cover,and heat dissipating plates arranged at the edges of the mattressbetween said batt of milkweed oss and said mattress cover and thermallyconnected to said woven copper sheet.

20. A mattress of the class described comprising in combination amattress inner structure having padded top and bottom sides and havingfour edges, a batt of milkweed floss covering one of said edges and thefour sides of said inner structure, a mattress cover enclosing saidinner structure and said batt of milkweed floss, a woven copper sheetinterposed between said batt of milkweed floss and said mattress cover,heat dissipating plates arranged at the edges of said mattress betweensaid batt of milkweed iloss and said mattress cover and thermallyconnected to said woven copper sheet, a second woven copper sheetinterposed between said batt of milkweed floss and said inner structure,and heat dissipating plates positioned in the edges of the mattressbetween said batt of milkweed floss and said inner structure andthermally connected to said second woven copper sheet.

BORIS BERKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 568,240 Dahlerup Sept. 22, 18961,873,212 Ostroff Aug. 23, 1932 2,103,553 Reynolds Dec. 28, 19372,193,410 Schubert Mar. 12, 1940 2,446,775 Marsack Aug. 10, 1948

